Copeland, who turns 28 in July, spent the 2018 season with the Jets after the first two years of his career in Detroit. He didn’t see many defensive snaps with the Lions, but he made ten starts and appeared in every game for Gang Green in 2018. Copeland’s five sacks put him on the league’s radar and the next deal he signs should be the largest of his pro career.

New Dolphins TE Dwayne Allenis under contract through 2020, but his $3.5MM salary for 2020 is not guaranteed, as Jackson writes in a separate piece. As such, the club could cut him at the end of the 2019 campaign and incur only $625K in dead money.

The Patriots lost their top sack artist from last season, Trey Flowers. and are looking for some pass rush help. To that end, the club has inquired on free agent Brandon Copeland, who had five sacks for the division-rival Jets last season.

]]>2AFC East Rumors: Mack, Brady, Hugheshttps://www.profootballrumors.com/2018/08/afc-east-rumors-mack-brady-hughes
https://www.profootballrumors.com/2018/08/afc-east-rumors-mack-brady-hughes#commentsSun, 12 Aug 2018 15:22:10 +0000https://www.profootballrumors.com/?p=114675The Raiders and star defender Khalil Mackare embroiled in contract negotiations that could result in Mack being traded. If that happens, Rich Cimini of ESPN.com suggests that the Jets should pounce. Gang Green has little pass rushing talent at the moment, and the club has $82MM of projected cap room in 2019, with only one big contract (Leonard Williams) on the horizon. Oakland would demand at least a first-round pick in return, and in addition to negotiating a high-level trade, the Jets would also need to work out a long-term deal with Mack. Those types of deals are difficult to pull off, and it is still unlikely that the Raiders part with Mack, whom they can keep under club control through three more seasons if they so choose. However, if Oakland does begin entertaining offers, Cimini would not be surprised if the Jets are one of the first teams to jump on the phone.

Let’s take a look at a few more rumors from the AFC East:

Jets OLB Lorenzo Mauldin is still around because of New York’s aforementioned dearth of pass rushers, but Mauldin, a 2015 third-round pick, has been dogged by injuries throughout his brief career, and he hasn’t been particularly effective even when he’s gotten on the field. As such, Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News tweets that Mauldin could be cut sooner rather than later, and that New York could let him go with an injury settlement (Mauldin is currently dealing with a leg issue that kept him out of the team’s preseason opener).

In a full-length piece, Mehta says that BrandonCopeland, a former UDFA out of UPenn who signed a one-year deal with the Jets this offseason after missing all of 2017, has been very impressive in camp and has been taking first-team reps over the past few days. Given the Jets’ pass rushing needs, Copeland has a real chance to get plenty of playing time this season.

We have written extensively on Tom Brady‘s new contract with the Patriots in recent days, and the moral of the story is that it looks as if Brady will continue playing through at least the 2019 season, and that the two sides could come to terms on another new deal next year in order to push some of Brady’s increased 2019 cap number into 2020. However, as Ben Volin of the Boston Globe tweets, since Brady and the Pats officially put pen to paper on August 9, 2018, they can’t renegotiate his contract again until August 9, 2019.

Trent Brown, whom the Patriots acquired via trade with the 49ers earlier this offseason, is the favorite to replace Nate Solder as New England’s starting left tackle, per Mike Reiss of ESPN.com. Brown is eligible for unrestricted free agency next year, so he will have plenty of incentive to perform at a high level.

Vic Carucci of the Buffalo News calls 2018 the most critical season of Bills DE Jerry Hughes‘ career. Hughes’ volatile on-field personality could be overlooked when he was posting double-digit sack totals earlier in his career, but his sack numbers have slumped since he signed a five-year, $45MM in 2015, so the unnecessary roughness and unsportsmanlike conduct penalties are a little harder to stomach. His $10.4MM salary in 2018 is the highest on the Bills, and while Buffalo could have cut him this offseason and saved a little cap room, the team could save $7.5MM by releasing him after the 2018 campaign, so he may need to show a return to his early-career form to stay in Buffalo and earn another $10.4MM next year. For what it’s worth, the Bills think Hughes’ sack numbers will be improved with the addition of Trent Murphy and (hopefully) some growth out of Shaq Lawson. Plus, Hughes did grade as a top-10 run defender (among edge players) last season, in Pro Football Focus’ view.

]]>2Jets Sign LB Brandon Copelandhttps://www.profootballrumors.com/2018/03/jets-sign-lb-brandon-copeland-re-sign-dl-xavier-cooper
https://www.profootballrumors.com/2018/03/jets-sign-lb-brandon-copeland-re-sign-dl-xavier-cooper#commentsTue, 20 Mar 2018 00:17:42 +0000https://www.profootballrumors.com/?p=100784The Jets have added a pair of players to their defense. The team announced that they have signed linebacker BrandonCopeland. The Jets also announced that they have re-signed defensive lineman XavierCooper.

Copeland, a 2013 undrafted free agent out of Penn, had spent the past three seasons with the Lions organization. After appearing in every regular season game between 2015 and 2016, the 26-year-old sat out the entire 2017 campaign with a pectoral tear. In 32 career games, Copeland compiled 30 tackles, 0.5 sacks, and one forced fumble. Earlier tonight, ESPN’s Michael Rothstein tweeted that the linebacker wouldn’t be returning to Detroit.

“Too many different levels of excitement to put into words,” Copeland said about the signing (via Ethan Greenberg of NewYorkJets.com). “Coming off of injured reserve, having to sit every Sunday, Monday and Thursday and watching other people play, I’m first and foremost excited to get back to the game that I love.”

Cooper was non-tendered by the Jets last week, but the defensive lineman will rejoin the organization on a new contract. The 2015 third-rounder split the 2017 season between the Jets and 49ers, compiling 17 tackles and 1.5 sacks in 13 games.

]]>2Lions Waive/Injured Brandon Copelandhttps://www.profootballrumors.com/2017/08/lions-waiveinjured-brandon-copeland
https://www.profootballrumors.com/2017/08/lions-waiveinjured-brandon-copeland#respondWed, 16 Aug 2017 22:18:59 +0000https://www.profootballrumors.com/?p=74904The Lions waived/injured linebacker Brandon Copeland on Wednesday. Copeland will either land on the Lions’ injured reserve or head to free agency via an injury settlement if he goes through waivers unclaimed.

Detroit lost the 26-year-old Copeland to a season-ending torn pectoral on Monday, just one day after defensive end Kerry Hyder saw his 2017 conclude prematurely on account of a torn Achilles. Copeland hasn’t been nearly as important to the Lions’ defense as Hyder has, having totaled a mere 13 tackles and one start in two seasons. However, Copeland led the Lions’ special teams unit in snaps in 2016 (305), pacing a group that Football Outsiders ranked No. 6 in the NFL. The year before, he piled up 313 ST snaps – good for third among Lions.

In less notable moves, Detroit signed offensive lineman Connor Bozick, tight end Andrew Price and defensive end Giorgio Newberry. No one from that trio has any NFL experience.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

]]>0Lions’ Brandon Copeland Done For Seasonhttps://www.profootballrumors.com/2017/08/lions-delb-brandon-copeland-done-for-season
https://www.profootballrumors.com/2017/08/lions-delb-brandon-copeland-done-for-season#commentsTue, 15 Aug 2017 00:52:33 +0000https://www.profootballrumors.com/?p=74711For the second time in as many days, the Lions have lost a member of their front seven for the remainder of the season. After leaning Sunday that defensive end Kerry Hyder had suffered a torn Achilles, Detroit today lost edge rusher Brandon Copeland to a torn pectoral, tweets Ian Rapoport of NFL.com.

Copeland, 26, doesn’t represent quite the same magnitude of loss as does Hyder, as though Copeland appeared in all 16 games last season, he started only one contest and played fewer than 150 defensive snaps. His main contributions came on special teams, where he appeared on nearly three-quarters of Detroit’s snaps and helped the club finish with a No. 6 ranking in ST DVOA.

Copeland originally signed with the Lions in the spring of 2015 after impressing at the veteran’s combine. Prior to joining Detroit, he’d spent time with the Ravens, Titans, and the Orlando Predators of the Arena Football League. Copeland is scheduled to become a restricted free agent next spring, but this unfortunate injury could lead to him being non-tendered in 2018.

Raiders defensive end Denico Autry has signed his RFA tender, reports ESPN’s Adam Caplan (Twitter link). The Raiders gave the 2014 undrafted free agent an original-round tender, leading to speculation that he could draw interest from elsewhere. Instead, Autry will return to the Raiders on the heels of back-to-back three-sack seasons. ERFAs Seth Roberts (WR) and Denver Kirkland (G) are also back in the fold, according to Michael Gehlken of the Las Vegas Review-Journal (on Twitter).

The Seahawks have re-signed linebacker Kache Palacio, writes Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times. Palacio, a former fullback who went undrafted out of Washington State last year, spent most of 2016 on Seattle’s practice squad.

Steelers RFA cornerback Ross Cockrell has inked his original-round tender, reports ESPN’s Adam Schefter (Twitter link). Cockrell went in the fourth round of the 2014 draft, so the Steelers would have been entitled to a fourth-rounder had Cockrell signed elsewhere and they elected against matching the offer. The 25-year-old caught on with the Steelers in 2015 and has since totaled 31 appearances, 23 starts and two interceptions. Cockrell started in every Steelers game last year, and his performance ranked an improve 28th among 111 qualified corners at PFF.

Chiefs RFA kicker Cairo Santos has signed his tender, per Schefter (on Twitter). Santos, undrafted in 2014, received a low tender; as such, Kansas City wouldn’t have been entitled to compensation had he gone elsewhere. The three-year veteran has connected on 84.3 percent of field goal attempts, including 88.6 percent last season (good for fifth in the league).

Lions offensive tackle Cornelius Lucas has signed his RFA tender, tweets Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press. The Lions assigned Lucas an original-rounder tender last month, so they wouldn’t have gotten a pick had the 2014 undrafted free agent signed elsewhere and they chose not to match. Lucas is now slated to make $1.797MM this year in Detroit, where he has started in six of 35 career appearances.

RFA defensive back Marcus Burley and ERFA running back George Atkinson III are returning to the Browns, per a team announcement. Burley, undrafted in 2013, received an original-round tender. The former Seahawk is coming off his first year in Cleveland, where he appeared in 12 games and played just under 40 percent of the Browns’ special teams snaps.

Fullback Tommy Bohanon and receiver Larry Pinkard have signed with the Jaguars, tweets the team’s account. Bohanon is the only with NFL experience, having logged 36 appearances and 14 starts as a Jet from 2013-15.

Speaking of the Jets, they have re-signed linebacker Julian Stanford (via Randy Lange of the team’s site). The Jets could Stanford on Friday, but both sides knew that was only a procedural move. Last season was the first as a Jet for the 26-year-old Stanford, who appeared in nine games (two starts) and played about a quarter of their defensive snaps and a third of their special teams snaps.

]]>1RFA/ERFA Tender Decisions: 3/8/17https://www.profootballrumors.com/2017/03/rfaerfa-tender-decisions-3817
https://www.profootballrumors.com/2017/03/rfaerfa-tender-decisions-3817#respondWed, 08 Mar 2017 18:43:38 +0000https://pfr.traderumors.com/?p=56138Unrestricted free agent news will obviously dominate the day, but several clubs also had to make decisions on whether to offer tenders to restricted and exclusive rights free agents. All RFA tenders listed are original round/right of first refusal (worth $1.797MM), and all links go to Twitter:

]]>0RFA/ERFA Tender Decisions: 3/7/17https://www.profootballrumors.com/2017/03/rfaerfa-tender-decisions-3717
https://www.profootballrumors.com/2017/03/rfaerfa-tender-decisions-3717#respondWed, 08 Mar 2017 01:04:37 +0000https://pfr.traderumors.com/?p=55905Unrestricted free agent news will obviously dominate the day, but several clubs also had to make decisions on whether to offer tenders to restricted and exclusive rights free agents. All RFA tenders listed are original round/right of first refusal (worth $1.797MM), and all links go to Twitter:

Wide receiver Kenbrell Thompkins has signed his restricted free agent tender with the Jets, according to Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk (Twitter link). Thompkins, a former Patriot and Raider, appeared in seven games for New York last season, hauling in 19 passes.

]]>0Lions Re-Sign Tyrunn Walkerhttps://www.profootballrumors.com/2016/03/lions-expected-to-re-sign-tyrunn-walker
https://www.profootballrumors.com/2016/03/lions-expected-to-re-sign-tyrunn-walker#respondFri, 04 Mar 2016 14:34:25 +0000https://pfr.traderumors.com/?p=25667FRIDAY, 8:34am: The Lions’ contract agreement with Walker has been finalized, with the team announcing the signing in a press release.

THURSDAY, 12:23pm: A year ago, the Lions’ signing of defensive lineman Tyrunn Walker from the Saints was viewed as one of the more solid under-the-radar moves of the offseason. However, Walker’s first year in Detroit came to an early end when he suffered a broken fibula and landed on the team’s injured reserve list in early October.

As he recovers from that injury though, Walker is prepared to sign a new contract with the Lions, According to Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press, the free agent defensive tackle is en route to Detroit today, where he will take a physical and sign a new one-year deal with the club, assuming some contractual language gets finalized.

After signing a one-year, $1.75MM pact last year, Walker will get a similar deal this time around. Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets that Walker’s new one-year contract will be worth $1.6MM, with a chance to max out at $2.25MM. It wouldn’t be surprising if the deal features per-game roster bonuses — because the Tulsa alum only appeared in four contests in 2015, only a quarter of his per-game roster bonuses would count against the cap.

In addition to nearing a contract agreement with Walker, the Lions are in talks to bring back Haloti Ngata, and Birkett expects him to re-sign (Twitter link). As Birkett notes, retaining those two defensive tackles would give the club the flexibility to focus on other positions in free agency next week.

Speaking of free agency, Birkett also reports that the Lions have tendered contract offers to all of their exclusive-rights free agents. The following players have received ERFA tenders, per Birkett:

]]>0Lions Notes: Parker, Hardison, Johnsonhttps://www.profootballrumors.com/2015/04/lions-notes-parker-hardison-johnson
https://www.profootballrumors.com/2015/04/lions-notes-parker-hardison-johnson#respondThu, 09 Apr 2015 19:10:25 +0000http://pfr.traderumors.com/?p=16050Despite the fact that Calvin Johnson missed some time due to injury in 2014, he and Golden Tate combined to grab 170 balls for the Lions. However, no other Detroit wide receiver exceeded Jeremy Ross‘ 24 receptions, so the team appears to be at least considering the possibility of taking a wideout early in the draft.

Today, according to Tim Twentyman of DetroitLions.com, the club hosted Louisville’s DeVante Parker, who is viewed by many as the third-best receiver in this year’s class, behind only Kevin White and Amari Cooper. While we wait to see exactly how serious the Lions are about upgrading their receiving corps, let’s check in on a few more items out of Detroit…

Per Twentyman, the Lions also hosted Arizona State defensive tackle Marcus Hardison for a pre-draft visit today.

Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press explains why he doesn’t think it makes sense for the Lions to match George Johnson‘s three-year, $9MM offer sheet from the Buccaneers. As Birkett points out, if the Lions had really wanted to retain Johnson at that sort of price, they could’ve assigned him a second-round tender ($2.356MM) rather than a low-end tender ($1.542MM) last month, which would’ve limited the defensive end’s market and virtually guaranteed his return.

Birkett also passes along a note on the Lions’ draft plans, tweeting that several people he has spoken to believe the team will select an offensive lineman with its first-round pick.

Linebacker Brandon Copeland, who signed with the Lions following the veterans’ combine, received a $25K bonus from the team, according to Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun (via Twitter).

]]>0NFC North Notes: Ngata, Copeland, Rodgershttps://www.profootballrumors.com/2015/04/nfc-north-notes-ngata-copeland-rodgers
https://www.profootballrumors.com/2015/04/nfc-north-notes-ngata-copeland-rodgers#respondSat, 04 Apr 2015 03:45:28 +0000http://pfr.traderumors.com/?p=15886We had a fairly exciting Friday, with a number of players finding new homes for the 2015 NFL season.

Before calling it a night, here are some notes from around the NFC North:

If you were waiting for fireworks between the Ravens and Lions regarding Haloti Ngata, prepare to be disappointed. The Lions released a statement on Thursday, saying that they were not concerned about comments made by Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti regarding Ngata on a Wednesday conference call. “The Ravens have reached out to us concerning the comments made yesterday by Steve Bisciotti regarding Haloti Ngata,” the Lions’ statement read, according to Clifton Brown of CSNBaltimore.com. “We appreciate both the Ravens’ professionalism and the context in which Mr. Bisciotti’s comments were made. We consider the matter to be a non-issue.”

Linebacker Brandon Copeland visited five teams and had a dozen teams interested in signing him before he agreed to join the Lions, according to Aaron Wilson of the National Football Post (via Twitter).

Jacquizz Rodgers‘ one-year deal with the Bears is for the minimum salary, according to Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune (on Twitter). The deal has a $745K base salary with a $40K signing bonus.

]]>0Lions To Sign Brandon Copelandhttps://www.profootballrumors.com/2015/04/lions-sign-brandon-copeland
https://www.profootballrumors.com/2015/04/lions-sign-brandon-copeland#respondFri, 03 Apr 2015 00:53:50 +0000http://pfr.traderumors.com/?p=15864After impressing at the veteran’s combine, Brandon Copeland has found himself a landing spot for 2015. The Lions will have agreed to sign the linebacker, according to Aaron Wilson of the National Football Post (on Twitter).

With plenty of linebackers on the depth chart, Copeland figures to serve mostly as a special teams contributor for Detroit, according to Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press (via Twitter). Copeland’s speed should serve him well in that facet of the game and he put it on display at the combine when he ran a 4.52 second 40-yard-dash.

Copeland told Wilson late last month that he received interest from multiple teams following his performance at the combine.

“My phone’s been ringing,” he said. “It’s been pretty good so far. I’m not going to say what teams, but four teams have offered me contracts so far. It was definitely successful for me to go to the veteran combine.”

Besides the Lions, the Eagles, Bengals, Chiefs, Colts, Giants, and Titans all expressed interest in the 23-year-old (24 in July).